Conferences

Before the Stroke of Midnight: An Insider View of the Federal Regulatory Process

Penn Law School Pepper 100 | February 9, 2009 3:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.

The close of any presidential administration brings with it a flurry of regulatory activity, as administrative agencies seek to finish regulatory proceedings prior to the time the new administration takes office. These so-called midnight regulations often generate enormous controversy, especially as the outgoing administration of one political party puts the finishing touches on rules which would not likely win the approval of the incoming administration of the other political party. The end of the Bush Administration was no exception to this general pattern, as critics took issue with late-promulgated rules affecting policies as varied as civil liberties and environmental protection. To illuminate the regulatory process that takes place at the end of a presidential term, two high-level political appointees from the Bush administration will speak about the regulatory process from their unique vantage points in the White House and in the Environmental Protection Agency. The session promises a revealing, insider account of how regulatory law and policy gets made in the nation's capital.

Susan Dudley served as the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget from 2007 to 2009. For the decade prior to her service at OIRA, Dudley served at the non-profit Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where she directed the Regulatory Studies Program from 2003 to 2006. As an adjunct professor at the George Mason University School of Law from 2002 to 2006, she designed and taught courses on regulations and led regulatory clinics. Earlier in her career, Ms. Dudley served as a career civil servant, working as a policy analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency (1984-1985), an economist at OIRA (1985 – 1989), and an economist advisor to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1989 - 1991). From 1991 until 1998, she was a consultant to government and private clients at Economists Incorporated.

Brian Mannix served as the Environmental Protection Agency's Associate Administrator for Policy, Economics, and Innovation from September 2005 to January 2009. Mannix has over three decades of scientific and policy experience, including positions as a senior research fellow in regulatory studies at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, director of science and technology studies at the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, and managing editor of Regulation magazine. He also served as deputy secretary of natural resources for the Commonwealth of Virginia under Governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore.